Device for suspending and securing telephone-directories.



W. E. LUDLOW. DEVICE FOR SUSPENDINGAND SECURING TELEPHONE DIRECTORIES.

APPLICAT ON F ILED JULY 20, F917. I

Patented Apr. "8, 1919.

nnrra WILLIAM E. LUDLOW, OF CLEVELAND, OHIO.

DEVICE FOR SUSPENDING AND SECURLNG TELEPHONE-DIRECTORIES.

Specification of Letters latent.

Patented Apr. 8, 1919.

Application filed July 20,1917. Serial No. 181,921.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM E. LUDLoW, a citizen of the United States,residing at Cleveland, in the county of Cuyahoga and State of ()hio,have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Devices forSuspending and Securing Telephone-Directories, of which the following isa full, clear, and exact description, reference being had to theaccompanying drawings.

Telephone companies have experienced a serious. loss in the number oftelephone directories which are carried away from public booths. Theobject of the present invention is to provide a device for convenientlysupporting the telephone directory, and at the same t1me so securing itthat it will be difficult enough for removal so that the directory willnot ordinarily be purloined. At the same time my device is readilyremovable from the directory by usual tools, en-' abling thesubstitution of a new book.

My supporting and securing device is clearly illustrated in the drawingshereof and is hereinafter more fully described, and its essentialcharacteristics are summarized in the claims.

Figure 1 is a perspective view of my suspending and securing deviceattached at its upper end and secured at its lower end -to a telephonedirectory; Fig. 2 is an enlarged elevation of the device adjacent to thesecuring end; Fig. 3 is an edge view of the parts shown-in Fig. 2; Fig.4 is an enlarged vertical section through the part of the device whichengages the telephone directory; Fig. 5 is a detail in cross-section onthe line 5 on Fig. 4.

In the drawings, A indicates a telephonedirectory and at the same timeallows the desired freedom of movement of it in use.

The strap 4 is asheet metal member bent into a U-shape, and if desiredmay be made of spring material. :The eye 3 has a shank 7 extendingthrough the crown of the U and provided with an upset head 8 on theinner side of the U. By this means the eye is permanently secured to theU and at the same time swiveled to it. r

The U-strap is ofsuch size as to readily but freely embrace the twosides of the telephone directory A. This strap is provided with twoholes opposite each other through which the bolt 5 extends. This bolt isof such size that it may readily ass through a hole a formed through thete ephone directory adjacent to the corner. The bolt is provided atoneend with screw threads 10 and has on the other end a suitable head 11,which is preferably rounded, as shown. The bolt 5 may be of the carriagebolt type, as shown, having a square portion 12 on its shank occupylng asquare 11016111 the strap whereby it is prevented from turning.

The nut 6 is shown as an lar and adapted to be turned by a wrenc On theinner face of this nut is a radial notch 13 which is adapted to coactwith lug 15 ofl'set outwardly from that side of the strap 4:. Fhis lugis abrupt on the side engaged by. the wall of the notch when the nutunscrews, but is gradual on the side engaged when the nut is screwingon, as clearly shown in Fig. 5. The result isthat the nut may be screwedon much more readily than it ma be screwed 01f. The body of the embracebook limits the inward movement of the arms of the U- shaped' strap,though the paper will, of course, stand some compression. Accordingly,by means of a wrench, the nut may be turned on over the ratchet detentdescribed tightly enough so that it is impossible to remove it with onesfingers. It may, however, be removed by a suitable tool.

It is notthe intention to supply a burglarproof device, but to supply aholder which makes it so inconvenient to remove the book that it willnot ordinarily be done. Experience has demonstrated that the removal ofthe books comes from actual users of the booth, who incidentally removethe book, rather than from persons entering the booth with a specialintention of removing the book. Accordingly, while such ordinary toolsas a suitable wrench or a pair of pincers are sufficient to effect theremoval, the fact that they are required is effective in preventing avery large per cent. of the removals. At the same time it is a verysimple matter for the em loyees of the telephone company, who supp iesnew books, to remove the former issues.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is:

1. The combination, with a book, of a U- shaped strap of yielding metalhaving parallel legs embracin the book, there being alined holes throughthe book and the two legs of the U, a bolt passing through said I holesand provided with a nut, a ratchet detent connection between the nut andstrap enabling the elasticity of the book to keep this connection inengagement, an eye swivwith a U-shaped strap,

passing through two legs eled to the crown of the strip, and a flexiblesupporting member secured to the eye.

2. In a device for supporting and securing telephone directories, thecombination of an eye swiveled to the eye, a bolt 'of the strap and andthreaded at thereto, a chain secured having a head on one end the other,and a nut screwing onto the thread and having a notch in its inner faceand an outward projection on the strap adapted to occu such-notch.

In testimony w ereof, I hereunto afiix my signature.

WILLIAM E. LUDLOW.

